Dolphin and Intel Atom processor

03-17-2010, 06:52 AM #1

Hi,
It seems to me that the original Wii has a slower processor than the current gen Intel Atom processor, though I could be wrong.
I know Dolphin needs a powerful processor most likely because the Wii is running at a bit higher than 32bit.

I would like to test what the Atom processor can do on Dolphin (the N260/N270 and N280, as well as the latest N450).

Another thing to mention is that the Atom processor supports 64bit operating systems.
I would like to know if dolphin ran at 64bit needs a less powerful CPU than at 32 bit (as the wii runs at 128bit?).

Most Intel Atom processors run at 1,6 or 1,66Ghz, but some of them are overclockable to 1,8 and perhaps even 2Ghz.

The N260 to N280 run on a GMA950 chipset for graphics I believe; the N450 runs something like an Intel 3100 graphics card. Both are bottom of the line, 3 years old graphics cards that may be good enough to display an 800x600 screen fluidly.

Also interesting would be the operating system.
Should I run XP, Windows 7, or Linux? 32 bit or 64 bit?
Any information on what setting or operating system would run Dolphin best on an Intel Atom based processor system would be appreciated.

I believe the Wii has some 2D games which could be played back fluidly on this system.

As a last question: Does Dolphin allow the user to change the display resolution?
If a game runs slow on 1024x600, perhaps it'll run better on 800x600, or 800x480, or 640x480 resolution.
Does Dolphin allow the user to do this?

If Dolphin is fixed on a 1024x768 resolution, we might be hitting the max of the graphics card (as it takes an Intel Core2Duo to display 720p video), and partly also because netbooks have a screen not larger than 1024x600 (eventhough one can attach a larger monitor any time).

**James333** · (This post was last modified: 03-17-2010, 07:22 AM by James333.)

You can't compare the wii PPC vs An atom processor clock by clock , they are totally different architectures ( and the wii PPC processor would probably win ).

Also dolphin does a lot of work to translation the PPC instructions to x86 , so 1 PPC instruction can be easily 15 x86 instructions. Thats why it needs a good processor ( like a core2duo @ 2.00 Ghz+ ) , because the amount of things that the emulator have to process

And Intel GPU sucks. They don't support OGL , even more , they can barely support directX

(03-17-2010, 06:52 AM)ProDigit Wrote: I believe the Wii has some 2D games which could be played back fluidly on this system.

Sorry, I don't think so

Dolphin can change the display resolution , but the game resolution will be the same but upscaled ( that's why we have AA and that things )

03-17-2010, 07:44 AM #3

(03-17-2010, 06:55 AM)James333 Wrote: You can't compare the wii PPC vs An atom processor clock by clock , they are totally different architectures ( and the wii PPC processor would probably win ).

Also dolphin does a lot of work to translation the PPC instructions to x86 , so 1 PPC instruction can be easily 15 x86 instructions. Thats why it needs a good processor ( like a core2duo @ 2.00 Ghz+ ) , because the amount of things that the emulator have to process

And Intel GPU sucks. They don't support OGL , even more , they can barely support directX

(03-17-2010, 06:52 AM)ProDigit Wrote: I believe the Wii has some 2D games which could be played back fluidly on this system.
Sorry, I don't think so

Dolphin can change the display resolution , but the game resolution will be the same but upscaled ( that's why we have AA and that things )

What is the game resolution, (if it is the display resolution can be changed)?
Can AA be disabled? (as it taxes the graphics card quite a bit).

Seeing that the Wii has a 64bit processor, it probably would benefit running Dolphin on a 64bit operating system.
I believe there where some Linux verisons for the Wii, and wonder if there is any Wii compatible operating system (eg a modded linux) for the pc, with a small footprint.

**James333** · 03-17-2010, 07:55 AM #4

AA its an option , mos of the time people don't use it

and here are the wii CPU specifications http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Hardware/Broadway

**thaCASHdude** · 03-17-2010, 08:02 AM #5

AA sometime kills performance as well

GodRays · 03-17-2010, 11:22 AM #6

Test Dolphin on Atom and find out for yourself.

The processor is slower than death :-D

Takenover83 · 03-17-2010, 01:18 PM #7

I Posted this in a similar thread, but it applies here too.
I have a Nvidia Ion system, I use for my MediaCenter. Ideally I would love to get it working for dolphin. It's a Asus AT3N7A-I

I overclocked the Dual Core CPU from 1.6GHZ to 2GHZ. I bumped the Nvidia GPU (based of a 9400 I think) to 550/1000.
Animal Crossing City Folk was still a little slow, but it was close. Maybe with time and a few more optimizations, it will be possible. Going to see if I can squeeze a little more out of it, and put the new Mario to the test.

**Ocean** · 03-17-2010, 01:46 PM #8

Intel atom processors are not for gaming, period. They are for netbooks and light browsing/DVD viewing etc.

Killersnake432 · 03-17-2010, 10:24 PM #9

Atom makes my CPU look good for once about playing on dolphin XD!

Takenover83 · (This post was last modified: 03-17-2010, 10:49 PM by Takenover83.)

(03-17-2010, 10:24 PM)Killersnake432 Wrote: Atom makes my CPU look good for once about playing on dolphin XD!

The only reason people would like to see Dolphin running well on Atoms/Ion is because many folks base there MediaCenter PC's around Atom's/Ion's. It's already in the living room, running movies and other emulators, via xbmc, boxee, etc...

I have a much more powerful desktop, that kills Dolphin. AMD 955@3.8GHZ, 5850, 4GB DDR 1600. But I am not moving it into my living room.